Driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement



I Jun 4, 1935. G. H. HEBEBRAND DRIVING MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING GYRATORY MOVEMENT Filed May 19, 1934 Patented June 4, 1935 2 003 441 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRIVING MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING GYRATORY MOVEMENT George H. Hebebrand, St. Louis, Mo;

Application May 19, 1934, Serial No. 726,597

7 Claims. (01. Wk-86) This application is filed to take the place of my caused to gyrate bythe movement of a weighted abandoned application, Serial No. 337,806, filed member which is so mounted that its point of February 19, 1929. pivotal support varies" as the weight moves out- This invention has for its general object to ward andupward in starting and likewise in its provide improved driving mechanism for prodownwardand inward movement in stopping, so

ducing gyratory movement of a suspended body, that the action of the weight gradually increasessuch as a sifting machine, which, in operation, in intensity with the speed of rotation and graduwill enable the sifter to be placed in movement ally decreases in the stopping of rotation,- proand to gradually cease its movement after power ducing at all times a balanced regular movement- 10 is cut off without producing an erratic movement of the plan Sifter. l0

of the sifter or a movement thereof beyond the Another disadvantage incident to prior conlimits of its normal zone of operation. structions is that the center of gravity of the In the type of driving mechanism to which my weight has been disposed to one side of the'rotat invention relates, in which a pivotally mounted ing shaft on which the weight is pivotally mountmovement of the plan sifter, the prior construcr vity f h W i h is alw y side of the tions of which I'am familiar have all possessed center of gravity of the plan sifter, which is one the disadvantage of producing a wide circular so y, in the pp ov ent, t e swinging movement of the plan sifter both in weight tends to carry the plan sifter around in a starting and stopping. This is due to-the fact circular path. According to my invention, the 20 that as the arm or other member carrying the weight is so mounted that when at rest, its center weight is pivoted at a fixed point, the weight of gravity substantially coincides-with the center will start to swing outward as soon as revolution of gravity of the Sifter, with the resultthat as thereof is started, and as the weight is rela-- th W i ht app s is n al r na v p tively quite heavy, it tends to impart a circular sition, it tends to rotate'with the shaft with prac- 25 movement to the sifter orto cause the sitter t lly o tenden y n its rotation to throw the to move in unison with it, instead ofopposing p an S fte O center, with the result that the its movement, throwing the plan sifter beyond its p Sifter is brought rest gradually and by normal path of movement, with the result that an ven m v t, and pra l y as s all frequently the flexible conveying members, or v e S0011 as the Weight c m to rest; 30

stockings, connected to the plan sifter for a o the Weight y Still be rotatihgconveying away the flour and other products to versely, in starting, the weight will have acquired various spouts, are torn oh, and before the maa e a v y high p e Of rotation, DD chine can be stopped the flour and other prodma e y One-third of its IlOrmal p f r it ucts delivered from the plan sifter are thrown n s o m v u d, With e result that about the floor of the mill. Again, whe th when it does start this latter movement, it atpower is shut off and the momentum of the weight once throws the sifter off center instead of tenddecreases, it begins to fall until it reaches a point i 081156111 to move With SO that in c where its movement is substantially synchro cycle of movement thereafter, the outward throw o, nized with the movement of the sifter, with the f th box will oppose the outward throw of the 40 result that the rotating weight will now tend to Weight inst coinciding W h S ch moveswing the sifter in a circular path, causing it to me t. move beyond the limits of its normal zone of n e w gmovement, with the result, as in the case. of Figure 1 is a View Of y p ed driving weight is employed for producing the gyratory ed for rotation. The result is that the center of 15 I 45. placing the plan siiter in operation, that the mechanism pp a P sifter,the Supp r s stockings are frequently torn ofi of the plan for t e t being Shown w yl v sitter and-in some cases, the plan sifter has been Figure 2 is a sectionalplan Vi w On a thrown against posts or other objects in the mill, scale of the mounted weight which I' employ; causing injury and considerable loss. and

Whatever the character and extent of the er- Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of the same. 50 ratio or irregular movements of the plan siiter, Re e now to the drawing; the m al 1 more or less strain is placed on the building and.- indicates a pla Sifter Which, as 11511841, is upthere is a'necessaryv increase in the wear of the ported atits four corners by a series of woodenbearing and supporting members. rods 2 from the ceilingabove. Mounted on the I According to my invention, the plan sifter is bottom of the plan Sifter-is a pulley 3 which is--55h driven by means of a belt 4 passing over pulleys 5 located at one end of the plan sifter. The belt usually passes through openings in the floor and is driven from any suitable source of power. Mounted in suitable hearings on the plan sifter and extending downwardly from the center of the bottom thereof is a shaft 6 on which the pulley 3 is fixedly secured. Mounted on the lower end of the shaft 6 to turn therewith is a casting I on which is secured a rectangular metal frame 8 having side walls 9. Each of the side walls 9 of this frame is provided with a groove ID, to be hereinafter more particularly described. The numeral II indicates a weight provided at its inner end on either side with members I2 which, when the weight is in position asshown in Figure 2, embraces the side walls 9 of the frame 8. Secured on each of the side members-I2 are two stub shafts I3, I4, respectively, each of which is provided on its inner end with a roller adapted to work in the groove It, such rollers at each side of the device being indicated, respectively, by the numerals I5 and I6. The outer ends of the shafts I3 and I 4 are screw-threaded to receive nuts I1 for securing the stub shafts in position on the side members I2.

The groove I0, previously referred to, has an outer portion I8 which is curved uniformly outwardly and upwardly from its bottom, indicated at X, to its upper end, indicated at Y. From the point X the groove I0 is provided with an inward and upward curved portion I 9, a substantially horizontal curved portion 20, and an up:

wardly curved portion 2|. It will be understood that the grooves Ill in the respective side members 9 are exactly the same in formation and coincide or align with each other. The weight II, when at rest, will have the slightly inclined position shown in Figure '1, being held in this position by engagement of the rollers I6 with the upper ends of the portions 2| of groove Ill. The weight is thus in position to move outwardly when the shaft 6 is rotated. As the weight is placed in rotation, its outward movement is controlled by the movement of the rollers I5 and I6 in the groove I0, these rollers forming, as it were, fulcrums as distinguished from pivots. The movement of the weight is a compound of an outwardly sliding movement and an upward turning movement, the latter being caused by the movement of the rollers I5 and I6 in groove I0.

-While the exact sequence of movements is difficult to clearly describe, a working model of the device seems to show that after being placed in rotation, the weight starts to turn outwardly, being guided by the movement of the rollers I5 in the portion I8 of grooves I0 and the rollers I6 in the portion 2| of said grooves. As the rollers I6 enter the portions 20 of the grooves I0, the upward movement of the weight is retarded somewhat, but it is displaced further from the shaft 6. As the rollers I6 enter the portions I9 of grooves ID, the rear end of the weight is now forced downwardly and the weight II turned outwardly on the rollers I5 as pivots, these latter rollers, however, continuing to ascend in the portions I8 of the grooves ID. This continues until the rollers I6 enter the lower parts of the portions I8 of grooves ID, at which time the upward movement of the weight ceases.

It will thus be seen that the upward movement of the weight, while caused by centrifugal action, is modified and controlled by the movement of the rollers I5 and IS in the grooves I0. -:In other words. the weight is free, to move outward, but it is positively directed in its outward movement by the grooves I0, and the co-action between the rollers I5 and i6 and these grooves results in a positive and controlled turning movement of the weight, and this movement is so regulated that the eifective power of weig t, due to its momentum, is gradually applied to the plan sifter to cause its gyration and its power gradually increases to the maximum, at which time the weight is substantially in a horizontal position, as shown by Fig. 3. This gradual increase in the power of the weight is due not only to an outward and upward movement, which would occur with any suspended weight subjected to rotation, but, as will be seen, there is a bodily lateral displacement of the Weight, so that when in the position of its maximum efliciency, which is the horizontal position shown in Fig. 3, the whole of said weight has been moved entirely beyond the vertical plane of the shaft 6. Owing to the operation of well known laws governing moving bodies, it will be seen. that with a weight of a given number of pounds, the lateral displacement of the weight will result in greatly increasing the action of the weight on the plan sifter over what would obtain if a weight of the same number of pounds were pivoted to the shaft 6.

I have shown the best embodiment of my invention now known to me, but so far as the broad principle of the invention is concerned, I do not wish to be limited in any way to the special embodiment of the invention shown.

I wish it particularly understood that the precise form or shape of the slots I 0 is not of the essence of the invention, but that any shape of curvilinear slot which will permit of an outward bodily movement of the weight and at the same time, controllably induce an upward turning movement thereof, would be within the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. Driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement of a suspended body, comprising a suspended weight rotatably supported on the body and capable of free bodily movement in an outward and upward direction independent thereof under power of centrifugal force, and the center of gravity of the weight when at rest substantially coinciding with the center of gravity of the suspended body, and means for rotating said weight.

2. In driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement of a suspended body, in combination with a rotatable shaft mounted on the'body and means for rotating the shaft, a weight operatively mounted on said shaft but independent thereof and capable of bodily movement in an outward direction and upward movement upon a variable point of pivotal support under power of centrifugal force.

3. Driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement of a suspended body, comprising a rotatable member mounted on said body, a weight supported on said member and free to move outward under the power of centrifugal force, the support for said weight including a guide adapted to permit such bodily outward movement of the weight and to induce an upward pivotal turning movement thereof, and means for rotating said member.

4. In driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement of a suspended body, in combination with a member rotatably mounted on the body and having guiding slots, a weight slidably supported in said slots and suspended from. said member, said slots being of a formation to permit a bodily outward movement of said weight and to induce an upward pivotal turning movement thereof under the power of centrifugal action, and means for rotating said member.

5. In driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement of a suspended body, in combination with a member rotatably mounted on said body and provided with a groove having an inner compound curve portion and an outer upward and outward curved portion, a weight having an arm provided toward its upper and lower ends, respectively, with rollers engaging in said groove, the lower roller, when the weight is a rest, normally lying at the inner end of the compound curve portion of the slot and the upper roller at the beginning of said outward and upward curved portion of the slot whereby upon rotation of said member, the upper roller will move upward and outward and the lower roller will operate first to restrain and then to induce an upward turning movement of the weight, and means for rotating said member.

6. In driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement of a suspended body, in combination with a member rotatably mounted on said body and having a curvilinear guide slot,

a weight slidably supported in said slot at an upper and lower point, whereby upon rotation of said member, the weight, under the power of centrifugal action, will be caused to move bodily and to be turned upwardly through the difierential leverage afforded by the two-point engagement of said weight in said slot, and means for rotating said member.

'7. In driving mechanism for producing gyratory movement of a suspended body, in combination with a rotatable shaft mounted on the body and means for rotating the shaft, a member fixedly secured on said shaft and having parallel side walls provided with similar and coinciding slots, each slot having an outwardly and upwardly extending curved portion and an inwardly extending portion of compound curve formation, and a weight provided with suspending members having rollers located, respectively, toward the upper and lower sides of said members and operating in said slots, the formation of the slots being such as to permit of an outward movement of the weight relative to said shaft and to induce an upward turning movement of the weight by differential leverage between its rollers.

GEORGE H. HEBEBRAND. 

